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Seemingly, Esther’s point is that the loaves of silver paid during Haman’s deal with the king (Esther 3:9) was a bad deal for the king. However, as the Maharal points out, Achashverosh returned the money (Esther 3:11), so an alternative interpretation is necessary.

According to Rebbetzin Heller, Esther was saying that the humiliation that the Jews would experience would not justify bothering our great king, Achashverosh; it would be beneath his dignity to do such a thing.

Also, the enemy – Haman – is not considering the loss to the king because he only cares about himself.

As the Talmud (Megillah 16a) interprets this phrase, Haman does not care about Achashverosh. First, Haman advised the killing of Achashverosh’s beloved Vashti, and now Haman has set his sights on the king’s new beloved, Esther.

The Ibn Ezra adds that Esther was saying that Haman cares so little for Achashverosh, that he does not even mind Achashverosh’s loss of tax revenue in killing out so many citizens of the realm.

According to Rashi, Esther is pointing out that if he had cared about Achashverosh, Haman would have advised him to sell the Jews and keep the money.

R’ Yehonason Eibshutz says Esther was protecting Achashverosh from an assassination plot; if he will kill her, then he would kill the king, as well.

Like the Rokeach, the Yosef Lekach writes that Esther’s point was that enslaving the Jews is permissible by the Torah, but trying to kill them off is against Torah. Therefore, Achashverosh risked being punished for this, and Haman would not care if he were.

The Dena Pishra writes that Esther’s point was that, as a king, Achashverosh could uniquely appreciate what a loss the Jews would be to H-Shem, their King, and how He will respond for the sake of His subjects.

According to the Alshich, another point Esther was making is that, in returning the silver (Esther 3:11), Achashverosh essentially sold his own wife as slave for free.

The Holy Shelah interprets “the king’s damage” as pain being inflicted upon the King of the World.

The Ketones Or quotes the Talmud (Taanis 3b) that it is impossible for the world to exist without Jews. Accordingly, Esther’s point was that Haman does not care about that, so this plot is not to Achashverosh’s benefit.

Haman called out his announcement that such shall be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor in the future tense. The easiest explanation may be that Achashverosh is rewarding Mordechai because he wants people to protect him in the case of future assassination plots. He is basically advertising, “You, too, can get this reward for protecting the king,” which is a statement which should logically be said in the future tense.

The Yalkut Gershoni quotes the Talmud (Bava Basra 12b) that since the ability to have prophecy no longer exists, prophetic insights have been given to fools, since people do not take them seriously. Haman was unwittingly saying that the reward they were all witnessing was indicative of Mordechai’s actual reward, which we will (iy”H) see in Esther 8:16.

The Midrash (Esther Rabbah 10:1) explains that Achashverosh was certain that the reason he was afraid of an assassination attempt was because he had overlooked rewarding somebody. Indeed, they found the incident earlier (Esther 2:21) when Mordechai warned the king about Bigsan and Seresh’s assassination attempt.

M’lo HaOmer points out that it is a miracle that, although Achashverosh wanted to sleep, he asked to be read a record book which would seemingly have the opposite effect. After all, he was the king, and affairs of state, regional power struggles, palace intrigue, and other similar events recorded in such a record would more likely excite the king instead of put him calmly to bed.

Yosef Lekach writes that the entire records book was simply a list of the king’s personal debts.

Ibn Ezra, however, states that the book was a list of vows, and the king was feeling guilty and was under the assumption that his insomnia was a punishment for an unfulfilled vow.

The Malbim writes that Achashverosh was frustrated about what Esther’s request might be. Therefore, he asked for the records book to investigate if Esther’s request might merely be for him to reward someone for a favor done for him.

According to the Vilna Gaon, the verse is discussing two separate books – a chronicle of the nation’s entire history, and records book of the king’s personal enactments. Similarly, the Malbim points out that the big book is a public book, available to all the citizens. The smaller book is private, and only available to the king. As we shall see (be”H), the difference is that one is more likely to be manipulated.

Perhaps the verse’s use of different language describing two different reports of the same plot alludes to the Midrash Lekach Tov’s assertion that Mordechai communicated his findings to Esther through a messenger, whereas Esther spoke to the king directly.

Yosef Lekach says that the difference in language demonstrates that both Mordechai and Esther were both trying to give each other credit for the information, so their individual tellings of the event were naturally different.

The Maharal says that Mordechai just reported the facts of what he witnessed. Esther, on the other hand, reported the conspiracy, and also offered counsel.

22. And the thing was known to Mordechai, and he related it to Esther the Queen, and Esther told it to the king in Mordechai’s name.

The Ma’amar Mordechai says that Bigsan and Seresh tried to get Mordechai involved in Haman’s rebellion mentioned in the last post. After all, as a Jew, Mordechai was a member of a down-trodden people, the perfect candidate to desire a change in rule.

The Talmud (Megillah 13b) teaches that Bigsan and Seresh were from a place called Turis. They were plotting the assassination by getting poison (perhaps a poison snake), but they did not know that Mordechai was on the Sanhedrin, so knew all of the 70 root languages (see Mishnah, Shekalim 5:1). Thus, Mordechai heard and understood their plan.

The Chiddushei HaRim once had a meeting in Warsaw with the famous philanthropist, Sir Moses Montefoire, where they discussed this verse. Sir Montefoire said our verse is proof that Jewish children should be taught foreign languages, so they can save the Jews from the plots of our enemies. The Chiddushei HaRim retorted that the very opposite is true – if every Jew would have learned foreign languages, Bigsan and Seresh would know this, and would be more secretive around Jews. It is the rarity of Mordechai’s ability that allowed for it to be effective.

One of the proofs the Talmud (Megillah 7a) uses that Megillas Esther was written prophetically in ruach hakodesh (see Introduction) is that the conspiracy “was known” to Mordechai, implying that he found out prophetically. Rav Pam says this opinion need not necessarily contradict the opinion that he overheard the plot. He writes that Jews respect privacy, and do not listen in on conversations. To illustrate this point, Rav Pam tells a story about a rabbi who was arrested in Poland on trumped up charges of espionage. In court, his two guards were speaking amongst themselves in Polish, assuming he knew nothing of their language. This rabbi backed away from them. Seeing this, the prosecuting attorney yelled at him for showing disrespect. The rabbi responded, “I do not mean disrespect. I am trying not to eavesdrop on your conversation.” The judge, after hearing this exchange, immediately freed the Jewish prisoner saying, “Such a one would not be a spy.” Rav Pam says Mordechai did the same thing. When he heard Bigsan and Seresh speaking in Tursish, he left the area so as not to hear them. Then, he received ruach hakodesh, Divine prophecy regarding their plot.

In Torah Nation, Rav Avigdor Miller writes that Mordechai was Divinely rewarded with this discovery in reward for his vigilance in daily risking his life to check on Esther (as mentioned in previous posts).